In fly fishing, in order to be successful, the fisherman must be able to change different flies depending on the conditions and depending upon what the fish are feeding on. During the course of time on the water, the fisherman may change flies half a dozen to a dozen times, until he hits the correct fly pattern for the conditions in order to catch fish. So, fly fishermen need a simple, convenient way to change flies. Secondly, every time the fisherman changes a fly he has to cut the old fly off the line and tie on a new fly. And every time he changes a fly he shortens the length of the fly line. Depending on the type of leader and tippet situation that he is using, he may have only about a foot or two feet of line available to be trimmed every time he changes a fly. So, the object is to use or waste as little of the fly line as possible each time he ties the fly, and he wants to be able to tie the fly conveniently.
A number of special devices have been suggested for assisting fishermen and others in the knot tying process. Descriptions of some of prior art knot tying devices are contained in the following list of patents, which list is not all inclusive but merely representative.
Patent No. Inventor Issue Date Title 2,758,858 Smith Aug. 15, 1956 Knot-Tying Implement 2,926,036 Wimberley Feb. 23, 1960 Fisherman's Knot Tying Tool 4,101,152 Gardipee Jul. 18, 1978 Fisherman's Knot Tying Jig 4,864,762 Cox Sept. 12, 1989 Line Tying Device
Many fly fishermen carry a hemostat or fishing forceps in their fishing vests. Fly fishermen generally will use the hemostat first of all for removing a hook from mouth of a fish which they've caught. The hemostat is also used as a pair of pliers for crimping a split shot; it is also used as a pair of pliers to crimp the barb on fishing hooks or fly hooks. Occasionally, the fisherman requires barbless hooks, so he can use the hemostat to crimp over the barb on the hook. They are also used as a pair of "tweezers" to pluck small flies out of storage boxes. Some flies are very tiny and the fisherman uses the hemostat to reach down into the fly box and actually pluck out a fly, because it is too difficult to get them directly with the fingers.
The knot tying tools mentioned above necessitate a fisherman carrying an extra piece of equipment in the pocket or on a lanyard. It has occurred to others to modify a hemostat or fishing forceps to act as a multi-purpose device, so as to avoid adding an extra tool to be carried. Following is a list of prior art in which modified hemostats or fishing forceps have been disclosed, the list not being all inclusive but merely representative.
 Patent No. Inventor Issue Date Title 2,895,478 Post Jul. 21, 1959 Suture-Tying Instrument 4,899,482 Gerdes Feb. 13, 1990 Multi-Utility Fishing Tool 5,557,874 Pietrandrea et al. Sept. 24, 1996 Multi-Purpose Fishing Tool
The modifications shown in the above patents involve substantial change and costly adaptations of standard hemostats.
It would be desirable to provide a simple modification of a forceps or hemostat of the type carried by fishermen, so as to assist the fisherman in the knot tying process.
It would also be desirable to reduce the cost of modifying a standard hemostat and to adapt it so as to serve as a simplified knot tying tool.